I met with the park contact today at Frontenac State Park, and was very very impressed by how well the details of the State Park promotion in Minnesota have been planned.....Big time Kudos to Esko for his work in with MN DOT in making this happen!!!!

The park manager was very enthusastic about the placement of the cache and we spent about 2 hours talking. (I was the only one in the park, given the awful weather conditions this morning.) And we went out to the area where he wants the cache placed and discussed options for placing it.

It is great to see the DNR move beyond mere acceptance of geocaching to now they seem they are at the point of embracing it as a method to bring more people into the parks.

The park manager I dealt with was very well prepared, and for me this was a great experience. I am sure that it took a lot of work to get to this point, so I tip my hat to Esko and all the others who were involved in making this happen.

Thanks EskoClimber, MN State Parks, and all of you who have taken up the challenge! I look forward to seeking these caches! I have been an annual permit holder for over 10 years, and am 4 parks shy of hiking each one of them. Now I have even more incentive to finish the Hiking Club.

Are all the parks aware that the MnGCA members have volunteered for all the parks? I have stopped by my park a couple of times but no one has been there. I also saw this post from someone tonight on the Groundspeak forums.

"Hello...

I was approached recently by the commitee that is planning a new festival for a State Park in MN. They want me to hide a cache for the festival. I have a few ?'s for anyone who has experience placing state park caches or anyone who knows the rules and regulations better than I do.

First, are multi-caches permitted? And if so, do you need to submit and receive approval for each stage of the cache from the State Park manager? Not a big deal if I do, I just want to make sure I get the paperwork ritght the first time.

Secondly, is it possible to request that the cache not be published until the day of the festival, or possibley during the night before the festival? This is going to be a permanent cache, but we don't want anybody finding it before the actual festival starts. I figured if I had to, I could just hide the first stage of the multi the day of the event, but then I would have to put in the cache notes that it's not actually available until said date.

I was approached recently by the commitee that is planning a new festival for a State Park in MN. They want me to hide a cache for the festival. I have a few ?'s for anyone who has experience placing state park caches or anyone who knows the rules and regulations better than I do.

First, are multi-caches permitted? And if so, do you need to submit and receive approval for each stage of the cache from the State Park manager? Not a big deal if I do, I just want to make sure I get the paperwork ritght the first time.

Secondly, is it possible to request that the cache not be published until the day of the festival, or possibley during the night before the festival? This is going to be a permanent cache, but we don't want anybody finding it before the actual festival starts. I figured if I had to, I could just hide the first stage of the multi the day of the event, but then I would have to put in the cache notes that it's not actually available until said date.

We got the Spring/Summer 2008 Minnesota Explorer paper last week in our daily Star Tribune. On page 8 is an article titled "Geocaching: A High-Tech Hunt for Minnesota History". It's all about the state parks challenge and includes quotes from a few cachers.

I did a quick search of the online site [www.exploreminnesota.com] but could not find the article to post a link.

Are all the parks aware that the MnGCA members have volunteered for all the parks? I have stopped by my park a couple of times but no one has been there.

I too have left messages at my park. I know it's open year round because they have a tubing hill in the winter. Should I wait or is there a way to find out who to contact? All I could find on the DNR site is the phone number for the park, but not a contact name.

Thanks!_________________Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

We got the Spring/Summer 2008 Minnesota Explorer paper last week in our daily Star Tribune. On page 8 is an article titled "Geocaching: A High-Tech Hunt for Minnesota History". It's all about the state parks challenge and includes quotes from a few cachers.

I did a quick search of the online site [www.exploreminnesota.com] but could not find the article to post a link.

met with my person today we talked and went out and picked a spot for the cache. good experience they seem interested in caching down there so this will be good. Thanks Esko and everyone for making this happen.

We have an appointment to meet with the contact at Big Stone this weekend. She seems really excited about the project & wants to learn more about caching, a good sign!_________________"We never seek things for themselves-what we seek is the very seeking of things"-Pascal

it was my understanding that the parks would be contacting us, did i miss read something along the way?
just checking.

Peace,
Joboo

The manager of Big Stone Lake contacted me via email almost two weeks ago. I have not heard from the other park I signed up for. Maybe not all managers have this at the top of their list of things to do?_________________"We never seek things for themselves-what we seek is the very seeking of things"-Pascal

ok, thanks guys!!!
i was kind of freaking out there for a minute or two!!??
maybe the further north the parks are the more time they figure they have, with the snow yet to be gone.
anyway, thanks again!!